Scripture
At vintage time he sent a servant to the vine-dressers {tenants}; for them to give him a share of the crop; but the vine-dressers beat him cruelly and sent him away empty handed.
~Luke 20:10, Weymouth
Quote
A part of man’s rebellion against God is to claim ownership to that which belongs to God.
~Ya’akov
When I say that Jesus is not a “tither,” I simply mean that Jesus gave it all. He didn’t give ten percent; He gave one hundred. When people tell me that tithing is Old Testament, I tell them, “You evidently don’t understand New Testament giving.” The story Jesus told in Luke 20 is a reference to the Jewish religious establishment, but it is applicable to mankind as a whole. We have a tendency to claim ownership when everything, including ourselves, belongs to the LORD. You and I don’t have anything: we are the tenants. We are God’s servants and everything belongs to Him. A tithe is a token of our recognition of this fact. God doesn’t need the money but we do need to recognize who’s world we are living in.
The tenant farmers in the story were not only ungrateful, they were greedy. Their plan was to sieze the property. Of course, we know they were foolish for thinking they could pull it off. You are not going to take what belongs to God. You can forget it! It will not happen. What will the owner of the vineyard do when He returns. He will take the vineyard from them and give it to someone else {the meek}. One way or the other, the Owner of the vineyard is going to show up and He will take what is His.
In light of God’s abundant blessings upon us; it is hard to believe that a person would refuse to give a meager ten percent back to God as a token of their gratitude and faith. Yet, people do it all the time. What would I be if I were not a tither? Afraid!
Extra
My deep appreciation and gratitude to our folks at the POINT. You went over and beyond. I thought we would have a crowd but not that many. Our parking lot was full. We never came anywhere close to that many cars during the covid year. You will be delighted to know that one of the other churches will host next year. Then we will be the guest. We had enough food to feed an army and I am thankful. I am especially thankful for the cooking and clean up crew. It’s nice just to show up and eat but someone has to clean up and at GP its the same folks everytime. I guess its pretty much that way everywhere. Remind me next year to cancel Sunday School on Resurrection Sunday. I was so tired, I had doubts that I would make it home. June fixed me a sandwich and I went straight to bed. Didn’t get up until 2:15. I also want to thank our gracious landlord for allowing us to live here at 1120 and to thank God for our sleep number bed. A fifty-seven year old body get tired.
Steve tries to keep me informed but I get confussed easily. I had June read the text for verification. Lincoln is at the clinic {HH} this morning. He has had some issues since coming home. Laura Smith’s day is under palliative care in Florida. I got that message confused with Donnel Brown and told some folks that Donnel was worse. I really don’t know how he is doing but the text was about Laura’s dad. I think I going to visit Decatur General today and check on Billy Turney.
I am undecided about today’s schedule, I may visit the hospitals and come back home. We have an executive committee meeting at 10:15 but my heart is not in it. I’d rather hand out in the office. May the LORD’s will be done.